I missed this, but about two weeks ago regulations in Nevada were approved to allow players to insert a pre-paid debit card and play on a slot machine.

For years regulators would not allow players to use ATM cards or traditional credit cards directly at machines. The theory was if a player got up from the machine to talk to an ATM or to the cage they would have time to think about playing more. But now, a pre paid debit card is okay to use.

Article here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/2...for-slots.html

I don't know what the cash limits are on pre paid debit cards but if the costs are low for loading a pre paid debit card this could be a good idea. I certainly hope that the charges are less than using a traditional ATM. Caesars, for example, charges a hideous $5.99 per ATM transaction -- plus your bank might charge you a foreign ATM fee. (Bank of America recently raised its foreign ATM fee from $2 per transaction to $2.50 per transaction.)

I still think that using a credit line at a casino is the best way to go if you are gambling more than a safe amount of cash that can be carried in your wallet. There is no fee for accessing a credit line, and casinos generally give you between 15 days and 30 days to repay the "marker" with zero interest.

Debit cards might allow "casual players" to safely carry larger amounts of money to casinos without fear of robbery and loss. I only hope that there is no charge by the casinos when a debit card is used directly in a slot machine. If the casinos do put a charge on using a debit card directly in a slot I would consider that to be counter-productive and a rip-off.